Sunday, August 9, 2015

We've had some smoke from forest fires in the vicinity, but the past day and a half it's been pretty nice and somewhat clear! Huzzah!! I'm so grateful! It's been cooling off at night and we've had some amazing sunsets that we'll be able to enjoy if the clearing keeps up.

I've got some tomatoes in the garden, some cucumbers, and summer squashes. Since our move in May (yes, we moved again!), I didn't want to do too much for gardening, considering we'd already have our hands full with house stuff and property and chickens. I'm glad we didn't bite off more than we could chew in that respect, especially since we aren't even unpacked completely and it's August! HA!

We have a lot of chickens! These are the breeds we have: Black Australorp, Plymouth Barred Rock, Ameraucana, Light Brahma (gentle giants, one is a rooster known as Lord Grantham), Cuckoo Marans (dark chocolate eggs, when they finally lay), White-crested Black Polish (black body, white afro of feathers on top, one is also a roo, the hen will lay white eggs), a few bantams (mini hens), for good measure! I love our chickens!!! We chose them based on egg color, temperament, and overall beauty/interesting features...Kat is the chicken whisperer still and she is so good with them. I do the morning chore of feeding them, mostly to make sure they have the right amounts of things and I can keep better track of our supplies, but she let's them out and tucks them in at night and is always willing to bring them scraps, or treats, or just go hang out with them. Oh, and we mustn't forget her help in keeping those rooster boys in check!

Right now, Papa and Nina are making salt pickles the old=fashioned way, mostly because the fresh dill at the market has been awful for me to can any for the winter just yet. These past couple of years, there is a trend in favorites of foods I can, which seem to be dill pickles, spiced peach sauce, spiced apple maple butter and applesauce, and salsa verde.They get eaten like nobody's business! The last jar of canned pickles is in the fridge right now, so these salt pickles and some of Jay's refrigerator pickles should hold us over until the new batch is ready to eat in a couple of months.

Alright, I'm getting hungry for a snack, so I'd better get on top of it before I lose my chance and it's too close to dinner! Later gators!!